


But That Don't Mean I Should

by herbailiwick



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Episode: s03e11 Mystery Spot, M/M, One-Sided Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-29
Updated: 2013-03-29
Packaged: 2017-12-06 21:27:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/740340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/herbailiwick/pseuds/herbailiwick
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For silmissaan-se-fosforiloisto.</p><p>  <a href="http://askboxmemes.tumblr.com/post/31099194023/even-more-drabbles">
    <em>"Leave a “<strong>Haunt Me</strong>” in my ask, and I will write a drabble about one character watching over another."</em>
  </a></p><p>This is "Mystery Spot"- related. Mainly, Gabriel admiring Sam and protecting him in secret.</p>
            </blockquote>





	But That Don't Mean I Should

Sam's the main attraction in Gabriel's sandbox, and Gabriel is a celestial being. So of _course_ he listens in. Of _course_ he follows him around. After all, isn't that the point?

And it's really kind of funny at first. Actually, it's funny for a very, very long time. 100 "days", even. It's the most fun he's had in way too long, eating a stack of pancakes soaked in maple syrup every single time that kid opens his eyes, making it happen at the same time every morning, Asia playing like his own secret apology, his own secret confession Sam Winchester will never be able to get because that's not how Sam Winchester works.

But Gabriel gets it. Gabriel knows. Though, what's the point in being the only sucker who understands your own art? There's probably _no_ point. He tries to hint at it, honestly. He gives a bunch of saps, most of who he created, some of who he did not, their just desserts. He uses more syrup than a grown man should.

Eventually, he goes all strawberry on Sam, but that's not for a while. No, first he actually just waits outside, disappears, and follows Sam and Dean around.

One time, just the once, he actually bumps into Sam, and he uses the split second of contact to replace the fingernail Sam's missing for some reason. He'd had it the last time Gabriel saw the two, before the sandbox, so he figures there's nothing wrong with giving Sam that quick fix.

The poor kid doesn't seem to even notice, but that's probably for the best.

All phasers are set to kill in the sandbox, but it doesn't hurt to make sure, huh? And the show is great! How could it not be? It's the Winchesters!  Dean makes those funny noises as he dies, and screws up his face, and then he goes all lax in his brother's arms, and that's part of the payoff. 

Then, there's Sam's face. He has some of the best expressions of sorrow and grief Gabriel's ever seen. It's actually impressive. And just a little bit sad. Sometimes, Gabriel feels sort of detached from humanity. One look at Sam's wide-eyed face, his hopes dashed, makes Gabriel remember the vulnerable parts of _himself_ , and, honestly, he digs it.

Sam's...beautiful. Every little furrow of his brow, every gasp, every spark of hope shining in his eyes, every prayer to Gabriel's father, every time he sets a hand on Dean like he's trying to be casual when he's hurting.

Gabriel realizes he's slowly traumatizing the kid. But he doesn't know how badly he's affected Sam until after the strawberry, and things after that happen pretty fast. 

Sam thinks he spends those six months alone. But he doesn't. Part of the accuracy on the hunts is all Sam. Part of it's Gabriel. Gabriel serves as Sam's secret back-up, watches him at night, keeps little things from getting to Sam. He keeps his wifi strong, helps his lines stay straight, makes sure the rooms are clean. He keeps Sam as un-miserable as possible.

And then he plays Bobby. And, somehow, that's where he makes his mistake. Because Sam knows Bobby, but, no matter how much time they've spent together, he doesn't know Gabriel. 

And Sam's eyes, the empty ones that flicker across his own wounds like they're the yellow lines on the road, that stare at pictures of Gabriel's Trickster self with such a quiet burning that Gabriel's actually flattered, aren't quite so romantic when Gabriel's looking into them himself.

He misses the softer Sam. But Sam still has faith, in _him_. In the Trickster he's wanted revenge on! It would actually be kind of easy to just spill, to tell Sam what it's all about, to tell Sam who he really is. But timing is everything in Heaven.

Sam has faith in a rotten demi-god Trickster he doesn't know healed him or backed him up on hunts. And actually, the hunting life was really fun. Gabriel really enjoyed it. It was like giving humans their just desserts, only a little less morally ambiguous. 

He doesn't tell Sam who he is. Sam still pleads, so open, so vulnerable, and Gabriel's really not sure how much of the lesson Sam even picked up. But he can't hurt him again. He can't take his brother away again. Maybe...maybe giving him back will make him sort of Sam's hero?

Okay, that's. That's stupid. That's really fucking stupid.

Gabriel sets everything right in that little spot in Broward, but it's not the last of Sam he sees. Dean's sort of Castiel's responsibility after the big jailbreak, at least for a while, but Gabriel knows it's Sam who could use a little watching over. He knows because he's been keeping an eye on Sam since Dean became premium puppy chow. 

He makes sure Sam doesn't get killed until Ruby comes back to take over the watching. Things are gonna play out how they'll play out. Maybe the Apocalypse'll happen then, maybe it won't. There are a thousand different ways things could play out, even more, different times and groups of people and seals.

Gabriel watches over Sam until Ruby starts to. And he knows Dean'll be back after that first seal breaks open. And it's ripe for the breaking; it is.

He hopes he set the boys up for success. He hopes, as sad as it is to see Sam want revenge, that that thirst will help him with his destiny. And he has a feeling, deep in his gut, that says Sam'll actually come out of it, will actually overcome the thirst for revenge, and maybe he'll even....

Well, it's not a thought he's proud of, but he thinks maybe if those two muttonheads could work so hard against forces unknown back in his sandbox, maybe they could work even harder against Gabriel's big bros.

Stranger things have happened in the history of man, after all. And Sam Winchester is one tough, beautiful son of a bitch.


End file.
